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Parker Williams educates Toys ‘R’ Us

Parker Williams has revamped the brand identity and packaging for the Toys ‘R’ Us range of educational toys, as the American retailer aims to compete with strong, branded offerings from companies such as Crayola.

The retailer’s Universe of Imagination range is primarily targeted at three- to six-year-olds.

According to Parker Williams sales and marketing manager Debbie Lewis, the company believes it has identified growth potential in this ‘premium end of the market’ and aims to rival major competitors with its own-brand offering.

The group’s work, due to roll out in stores across Europe and the UK by the end of the year, encompasses a stronger umbrella identity for the range, as well as individual personalities for its six sub-brands, says Lewis.

The new look will be applied to signage and point-of-sale material in the retailer’s Universe of Imagination shopping environments (packaging pictured).

The group has also updated the brand’s two characters, Cosmo the dog and the Toyologist, making them ‘younger and more contemporary’ and will create brand guidelines and 50 lead artworks for the project.

Parker Williams design director Paul Carr says the umbrella brand has been created to be flexible across multiple formats and languages. ‘It needs to be simple and impactful and avoid looking like cluttered pan-European packaging,’ he explains.

Packaging features photography depicting children playing with individual toys to encourage usage and show that learning can be fun, says Lewis.

Parker Williams was appointed to the project without a pitch in January on the strength of previous design work in the children’s sector. Carr was the consultancy’s creative lead on the project.